GCC's Cryopreservation Working Group

The Global Conservation Consortia (GCC) has established a cryopreservation working group. It is led by Valerie Pence and her team at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s The Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), with the support of the GCC Coordinators. On a quarterly basis the group holds meetings in which members present their cryopreservation work by providing updates, sharing results, or introducing new projects to receive input and feedback. This group has been successful in exchanging tools and resources and establishing new partnerships that have led to joint conference presentations, funding proposals, and more. The group functions as a platform for people to share their work, network, and learn more about the cryopreservation field. If you are interested in attending a future meeting, you can sign up on the mailing list. The next meeting will be sometime in July/August.

During the recent April meeting, group member Daniel Ballesteros of Universitat de València, Spain, presented an overview of The Global Oak Pollen Bank project (see the presentation slides here). This is one of the projects that is being funded by the IOS Oak Conservation and Research Fund. You can watch the meeting recording to learn more about the project’s goals and see what Daniel and his team have been working on and will be working on in the future (Daniel’s presentation begins at 31:20).

All IOS members are welcome join this working group and other GCC working groups, such as the conservation genetics working group. Feel free to contact me with any questions about the Global Conservation Consortia.